Get off your bikes, medics tell cyclists

Paul Bibby Urban Affairs Reporter

THE City of Sydney knew its plan for a cycleway through the inner-west suburbs of Newtown and Camperdown would draw angry letters from residents - even the objections from the Taxi Council and the group representing motorcycle riders were expected.

But it did not anticipate that people with a professional stake in the benefits of exercise might try to stymie the Missenden Road cycleway.

The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital has emerged as the key objector to the plan for a cycle path between King Street, Newtown, and Pyrmont Bridge Road in Camperdown.

In a strongly worded letter to the council, the chief executive of the South West Sydney Area Health Service, Mike Wallace, said that having a cycleway passing the hospital would put staff and patients at risk.

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"Many of those visiting the hospital are unwell, sight-impaired, disabled or elderly," Mr Wallace said.

"The capacity of these people to avoid collision with a cyclist … is seriously impaired. There are regular and many complaints regarding cyclist behaviour in and around the site … so it is inconceivable that their behaviour will be any better on the cycle path."

If the council insisted on building the path on the eastern side of Missenden Road, he said, it must institute a "no ride zone" for the length of the hospital grounds to oblige cyclists to dismount and walk their bikes.

Cycle groups and the council are at a loss to understand why an institution that deals daily with the consequences of obesity would object to a project that encouraged cycling.

"The irony of it is that the health promotion unit at the hospital has been a very strong supporter of cycleways for years," the vice-president of Bike Sydney, Andrew Dodds, said. "A couple of weeks ago the latest Sydney cycle map was released and [the health service] was the co-sponsor."

A health service spokesman said the body was committed to promoting the health benefits of physical activities and would work closely with the council to "find a safe solution for both cyclists and pedestrians".

But some within the council claim there is another motive behind the hospital's objection: parking. It is understood the cycleway would take up about 40 prime parking spaces.